Fury at school chaos

Parents today told how London's deepening schools admission crisis has left their children in despair.

Thousands of youngsters face being separated from friends after a series of blunders meant they will have to go to schools outside their own borough.

A new computer system was introduced this year in a bid to make the process of finding a secondary school place easier - but it has only resulted in chaos for councils and parents.

Every child should have received a single offer by 1 March but so far, education chiefs have admitted that almost 2,300 pupils have not gained a place while thousands more could face the same dilemma.

And the companies behind the scheme today continued to distance themselves from the farce. It leaves local education authorities trying to allocate places before next Tuesday, when parents have to accept or reject the place offered. For those who refuse, the whole process starts again, with fewer preferred schools available.

Almost a third of London's boroughs have now admitted hundreds of children have not been allocated a place while others were offered multiple places.

It is feared the knock-on effect of the fiasco could affect every education authority in the capital. A total of 11 councils have now reported faults with the admission system and despite a string of councils denying they were experiencing problems, the Standard has learnt from parents that many children in those borough have not been given places.

Hundreds of parents have contacted this paper to voice their concern including Peter Coburn, from Lambeth, whose daughter Amy was told she had not got into any of her six preferred schools.

He said: "Ever since she heard the news, Amy has been vomiting and nervous. She has always loved schools and this has taken that away from here even though I tell her it is not down to her."

Tony Macpherson, from Brixton, whose daughter, Hannah, 10, was told she has not made it into her chosen school, said: "The worst part is that my daughter is both upset and mystified as to why no school 'wants' her. It is all a bit much for a 10-year-old child." The initial crisis was blamed on computer problems at IT company Capita which were then compounded by administrative errors at some of the LEAs - highlighting the annual problems surrounding school admissions.

Eight boroughs in and around London said they were experiencing problems and a Standard study can now reveal nearly 2,300 pupils do not have places.

Another eight local authorities have admitted hundreds of their boroughs have been left with no places.

Croydon has 370 children without a place while in Lambeth, 561 children did not receive an offer and in Kensington and Chelsea, 180 await places.

In Barnet 478 children are yet to be placed, in Enfield 200 have not received any offers, 170 have not got a place in Wandsworth and 180 in Camden are still looking. Newham have 50 families still waiting for places in Essex schools.

The new system saw parents fill in a single form listing six preferred secondary schools and send it to their council. The information then entered a database of all children and their selected schools.

The computer software provided by Capita should then have allocated children the best available schools based on choice, address and available places - but in many cases this did not happen as leading schools quickly filled up, leaving little or no choice.

Many local authorities today assured parents every child will get a place, even if it is not their preferred option.

Capita distanced itself from the crisis today, pointing blame at Arete - the company which runs its company system - saying Arete's data hub experienced problems. But Arete hit back saying the original software for Capita did not do what it was supposed to do.

Has your son or daughter been caught up in the admissions crisis? Email places@standard.co.uk